Photo courtesy of the label
For its second artist release, Mexico City-based label Lissajous hands the reins to local DJ and producer Me & Myself, whose Silencestep EP—true to name—makes the sound of silence a key instrument in his work. In the process, he and the label are also helping to evolve their capital city's electronic music culture.Silencestep sees Me & Myself further distance himself from the house and techno of his earlier work, experimenting instead with bass-heavy, abstract rhythms that err more towards grime, UK garage, and IDM. Today, THUMP is premiering EP opener "Silencestep Part 1," which opens with a stuttering stop-and-go sequence that drips like a leaky faucet. From there, it lurches into an eerie cacophony of dilapidated beats, groaning bass, and chopped vocal bits, each pause—however brief—a jarring jolt back to reality.In an email to THUMP, Me & Myself had this to say about the track: "An abyss that is capable of expressing emptiness through what's hidden in plain sight, that is what silence does here."His experimental sound represents the ethos of Lissajous, which was created by a group of underground promoters who felt that there was a lack of support for bass-inclined sounds in their city's otherwise house- and techno-dominated clubbing landscape. After throwing a series of parties beginning in 2013 with local artists such as Nesstrak, Siete Catorce, No Light, and Wet n' Groove, they released their first compilation, Lissajou Uno, in 2015, followed by a second last year. Though the label tells THUMP that the experimental scene has grown in the last few years, there's still a ways to go. Collectives such as Lissajous (along with the fast-rising NAAFI) ensure that Mexico City's slow-burgeoning sound has the talent to be heard beyond its borders.Listen to "Silencestep Part 1" below. Me & Myself's Silencestep EP is out via Lissajous on May 19.